William h



(No Model.)

W. H. GLOBE. Lines for Driving Horses.

Patented June 21,1881,

I12 velz or.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM H. swim, or GOVINGTON, KENTUCKY, ASSIGNOR or ONE-HALE TO HARLANP. WH TAKER, on sAME PLAoE.

LINES FOR DRIVING HORSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 243,243, datedJune 21,1881. Application filed April 11, 1881. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, WILLIAM H. GLOBE, ofCovin gton, Kenton county, Kentucky, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Lines for Driving Horses, of which the followingis a specification.

My invention relates particularly to lines for driving double teams; andits purpose is to provide a more efficient means for control- IO linghorses than now exists.

My invention is applicable to harness for all and any double teams, butis especially applicableto harness for fire-engine horses, as it isoften very necessary to drive these horses at a high rate of speed, andto turn corners without slacking this speed, and where lines as nowconstructed are employed the horses are apt to crowd each other, andthus become to a greater or less degree unmanageable. My inventionobviates this difficulty and places the horses entirely under thecontrol of the driver, and enables him to turn corners without slackingthe speed of the horses, and yet prevents the tendency of thehorses tocrowd each other.

The drawing forming part of this specification is a plan view,representing the construction and arrangement of the lines according tomy invention.

A and B are the two lines which the driver 0 holds, and which eachdivide, near their forward extremities, into two, the lineA into thelines a a and the line B into the lines b b. The inner, a b, are madeslightly longer than the outer lines, a b, so that the horses will be 5continually kept separated.

A B are the bits, which are placed in the mouths of the horses. Thelines a a are attached to the bit A, one of said lines being attached toeither end of the bit, and the lines I) 0 b are attached one to eitherend of the bit B.

A connecting strap or rod, 0, is attached at each end to the bits A B,the attachment being made by an appropriate snap or buckle. Thisconnecting-strap may be made of a single piece or composed of twopieces, as shown, the pieces being connected at the center by a snap andring. This latter construction is preferable for use on fire-enginehorses, where speed in hitching up is very essential. When this strapconsists of two pieces one piece can be left on the bit of each horsewhen the horses are unhitched, and when the horses are to be hitched upthe snap on the end of one piece is snapped into the ring on the end ofthe other piece, which is the only thing required to complete theconnection of the lines, and can bevery quickly done.

1n ordinary harness one of the branches of the lines A and B passes tothe bit of the 0pposite horse, the line a passing to the bit B and theline I) passing to the bit A. The objection to this latter constructionand arrangement is that the horses, when driven by such lines, areliable to crowd each other, which is especially the case when acorner isto be turned, for the reason that when the driver-wishes to turn theteam in either direction he pulls on the line next to that sideforinstance, the line B on the right sideand this line, comm unicating withboth horses, turns them suddenly to the right, and the horse on the leftis pulled over against the horse on the right side. For this reason thedriver is compelled to slacken the speed of the horses before turning acorner.

The above objection does not arise from the use of my invention, as whenthe driver wishes to turnfor instance, to the right-he pulls on the lineB, and this turns the horse on the right side to the right, and thishorse, through the medium of the connecting strap or rod O,pulls theother horse to the right; but the line a prevents the horse on the leftfrom crowding over against the horse on the right, and the horses can bedriven at full speed around a corner without danger of crowding. So,also, I am enabled to check or stop the horses much more perfectly andreadily by the use of my invention than by the use of lines as nowconstructed, as, where the latter lines are. employed, when the driverattempts to stop the team the tendency is for the horses to cometogether, whereas my invention keeps them constantly apart, and thus theobjects for which my invention is designed are accomplished.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and of myinvention, and de- 2. The combination of the line A, divided sire tosecure by Letters Patent, isinto the lines a a and attached to the bitA,

1. An improved driving-gear for double harthe line B, divided into thelines D b and atness, oonsistin g of a pair of bits connected by tachedto the bit B, and the connecting strap 5 a connecting strap or bar,substantially as or rod 0, substantially as and for the purposes I5shown, each bit being provided with a sepaspecified.

rate branching driving-line, having opera- WILLIAM H. GLOBE. tiveconnection with each other only through Attest: the connecting strap orbar, substantially as B. H. TIBBS,

[0 described. E. R. HILL.

